Tony Stark has a Daughter
by AFasold
Summary: Tony's trying to get in touch with his daughter, Clover, after seventeen years. Clover is a student at Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters. When the two finally do meet, and Clover agrees to spend the summer at the Tower with Tony and the team, what will happen? (Better summary inside, it wouldn't fit here)
1. Chapter 1

Clover. She was all Tony could think about as he watched Clint pick up his own daughter, one that until that moment at the farm house none of the team had known had existed. He didn't get any sleep that night but it wasn't just Ultron that had kept him up, it had been Clover too. Every time he'd tried to close his eyes he'd see her small face staring up at him, just two days old and already you could tell she'd be his spitting image. His eyes and his hair at the very least, but that'd been seventeen years ago. Tony hadn't been ready to be a father then, he was a real wreck, and he'd abandoned her with her mother. He had done his best to put her out of his mind, convinced that no father was better than the kind of father he'd had, the kind of man he feared so very much he'd become if he ever had children.

He had never even checked up on her. Looking back on it now he was ashamed, but it was all just too painful. He made a vow to himself that night that when they finally did manage to stop Ultron, he'd check up on Clover.

Two weeks had past since Ultron's defeat and still Tony had nothing. Clover's mother, Emma, had died when she was four. After that, since she'd had no living relatives and since he'd hadn't been listed on the birth certificate, Clover had no where to go. She'd been placed in the foster system and she'd gone through many homes. Her file had described her as a 'runner' but a ghost was more like it. She would disappear from homes, group and foster alike, without a trace. Sometimes she'd be gone a night or two but sometimes she'd be gone weeks. This seemed to have started at her second foster home when she'd been six and continued until she was thirteen, when she disappeared completely. There was barely anything in her missing persons file and Tony got the sinking feeling that no one had really looked for this lost girl. He may not have checked in on her but that didn't mean he'd never cared. He'd left her with Emma, an honest to god good person, and he'd thought she'd been well taken care of. Now he was just trying not to feel sick at the thought of what could have happened to a thirteen year old on their own.

He was searching every data base, pulling at every thread, just trying to get some sort of lead, was she okay? Was she hurt? Did she need help? Was she even still alive? He'd even considered asking for SHIELD for help, he was getting desperate. He hadn't slept or eaten in at least three days, hadn't even left the lab. He knew someone had blabbed to Pepper because she was ending her LA trip early to come back to New York.

He heard the lab door open but paid no attention as he continued to stare at the screen hoping something useful would come up. He turned around only when Natasha slapped a thin file down in front of him, one that had his daughters name written across the front.

"Shes who you've been looking for right?" Her tone told him she already knew the answer.

"What is this?" Was there something he'd missed somehow? Had Tasha really found Clover?

"Open it."

Tony flipped open the file and spread out the few pieces of paper that were inside of it. She was alive. The papers basically said Clover had been taken in by what the state described as a boarding school of sorts here in upstate New York, far from her last foster home in Vegas.

"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters? Where's the information on them?,' he rifled through the papers finding only a phone number and a short bio of the school.

"That's all SHIELD had on file that didn't require director level clearance."

"SHIELD? Why would SHIELD have a file on Clover? And why would you need such high clearance level to access it?" Tony couldn't figure out what they could want with his daughter, it didn't make any sense.

"You tell me Tony, you're the one looking into her. What did she do to land on your radar?"

"Nothing that would warrant SHIELD's attention." He was dodging the question, he knew it was obvious but he wasn't ready to tell everyone yet. He at least had to talk to Pepper first. "What else did you find?"

"That's everything that wouldn't require Fury to access. Tony what's with the sudden interest in this girl?" He only shrugged in response, his mind already far away from the conversation with Natasha, focusing on any possibility that would explain why SHIELD would be interested in his daughter. Natasha sighed at his obvious retreat back into his head, and turned to walk away thinking maybe it was time to let the rest of the team in on this.

As soon as she left Tony checked the time. Ten at night. He definitely wanted to know more about this boarding school, what better way than to make contact? He picked up the phone and dialed the number he'd found in the file. After a few rings a boy answered the phone.

"Xavier's School, Remy speakin',' the kid was laughing between each word and his Cajun accent was thick,' and how, _ma'am,_ may I direct your call this evenin'?"

"Well Remy, first off sir will be fine,' his voice heavy with sarcasm,' second, I'm calling about Clover Mansfeld." Tony could hear him put his hand over the phone and then a muffled "it's not Rouge" then "some man lookin for Clove." There was a small shuffling and Tony could here another person respond saying "give me that, you know students aren't supposed to be answering this phone anyway."

"Hello?" It was a girls voice this time.

"Yes, I'm calling looking for any information you might have on a Clover Mansfeld?" He tried to tamper down the annoyance in his voice, glad to finally be talking to someone that appeared to have some sort of authority.

"May I ask who this is and why your calling?" Tony was silent for a few moments, debating what to say.

"I'm family, on her fathers side, she was listed as a student here. I was just looking for some information, just checking up on her." It was close enough to the truth. This time it was the voice on the other end of the phone that took a few moments of silence, presumably to collect their thoughts.

"Who is this?" The voice sounded very firm now, somewhere between guarded and angry.

"I told you I-"

"Clover has never had any contact with her father what so ever, she has no family and I don't know where your getting your information from but Clover Mansfeld is no longer a student at this institution."

"What do you mean she's no longer a student? Where is she now?" Tony's voice sounded upset and panicked at the same time. This was the first solid lead he'd gotten, it couldn't be a dead end.

"I'm sorry sir that's all the information I can give you." The voice didn't sound sorry, Tony thought. If anything it sounded aggressive.

"Look, you've got to have some information on her. A forwarding address, a phone number,-" the line went dead. She'd hung up on him. He dialed the number again but received only a busy signal. He'd thought he was getting close, but instead he just felt like he'd lost her completely.


	2. Chapter 2

Why wouldn't he just get over it and get a damn cell phone? He was so paranoid sometimes and he knew it drove her crazy when he wasn't at the school and she had no way to get a hold of him. It had been six days since she'd gotten a call from Logan. When he'd told her he was taking off for a bit again, they'd had the same argument for the umpteenth time.

"Look I know it drives you crazy, staying in one place for too long, and I know you like to travel so I don't bug you about it-"

"Don't bug me about it,' he'd asked his voice filled with disbelief,' what do you call what you're doing right now kid?" He took a break from filling the duffle bag sat on the edge of his bed in front of him to give her an exasperated look.

"I'm not bugging you over you leaving,' she said as she leaned against the doorway,' I'm bugging you because you're determined to fit every crotchety old man stereotype there ever was. You're stubborn and you're old fashioned and you're refusing to join the technological age! Just get a damn cell phone Logan! I don't care if it's a pay your way flip phone that no one can trace back to you or if you go into AT&T and open an account and get an iPhone! Just give me some way to check in with you so that I know you're not dead!"

"Look, I'll call at least once a week, okay?" He no longer looked as irritated as he had been at the beginning of the argument and she hoped it was because she was wearing him down.

"And what if something happens here? How am I supposed to let you know?" Once a week was a pretty generous offer from a guy that usually called _maybe_ every two and usually hung up after he found out that she was okay, but she still wanted to see if he'd budge a little more.

"You can tell me when I call to check in." She let out a groan, knowing she should probably stop now, she didn't want to push her luck. Logan probably wouldn't have let anyone else but her or Jean push the argument this far.

"Just be careful and don't do anything stupid, okay? I need you back here in one piece. It's no secret you're my favorite coworker, with you gone I may even be forced to eat with the students." Her tone had shifted from irritable to playful and she'd managed to make him grin. Clover was barely seventeen and the only reason she wasn't one of the students anymore was that she'd graduated early. Now she taught self defense to the fourth year students and under. He slung his duffle over his shoulder by the strap and walked over to put a hand on her shoulder.

"I won't be gone long kid." He gave her a smile. "In fact I'll be back before you know it." She smiled back up at him. She'd met Logan in Las Vegas after escaping her last foster home. He'd been the one to bring her back to Xavier's and she'd been glued to his hip ever since. She looked up to him, despite the fact that she normally didn't get along with authority figures, and he'd become like a big brother to her, and even though they weren't actually related they did look a little alike with dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and fair skin. The only reason she was advanced enough to teach the self defense classes to the younger students was all the time Logan had spent with her teaching her to defend herself.

"I know. Come on, if you're gonna leave you might as well do it while theres some daylight left." She'd walked him out to his bike, got a quick hug, and watched him go. She always missed him horribly when he was gone but she'd never admit that, not out loud at least.

So here she was now, sitting in the kitchen with Remy and Kitty, waiting for Rogue to call and tell them where to meet her in the city tonight.

"She's been gone for two days and you're already moping around all day and spending your nights by the phone, Remy. That's not healthy." They both knew Kitty was just poking fun at him, she thought it was adorable that he was so clingy and both girls knew Rogue loved the attention.

"When you got a girl as good as mine she's worth all the mopin' and waitin' around in the world." His Cajun accent made his romanticism even cuter.

"Awww,' Clover cooed. "You guys are so cute! My little country bumpkins are in love." She'd liked Remy the moment she'd met him, and from the first time Kitty had suggested setting him up with Rogue Clover knew they'd be perfect together, she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it herself.

The land line rang and they all looked around at each other, surprised. The land line almost never rang and when it did students weren't really supposed to answer it. Remy got up and walked towards the phone.

"Woah there cowboy,' Clover called out to him,' you're not supposed to answer that." Remy scoffed at her.

"Don't go all teacher on us now Clove,' he said as he continued to make his way to the phone,' it's probably just my favorite girl. She mighta lost her phone and didn't know any number but the land line."

"Hey, don't call me the teacher, it makes me feel old and responsible." She said scrunching up her face.

"I don't think anyone would accuse you of being responsible Ma Cherie,' Remy said starting to laugh. He continued to chuckle as he answered the phone. "Xavier's School, Remy speaking, and how, _ma'am_ , may I direct your call this evenin'?" He was putting all of his charm into his voice, clearly convince Rogue was on the other end of the phone. His face twisted into a confused and disappointed look as he pulled the phone away from his ear and put his hand over it. "It's not Rogue,' he said. Both girls immediately burst into laughter.

"Well then who is it,' Kitty asked.

"Some man lookin' for Clove,' he nodded his head towards her as he said it. Her first thought was that it must be Logan, but Remy more than likely would have recognized his voice. She warily slipped off the counter and went to take the phone from Remy. When she tried to take the phone from him he pulled it back slightly, clearly not wanting to hand it over without knowing what was going on.

"Give me that," she said as she jumped up snatching the phone from him,' you know _students_ aren't supposed to be answering this phone anyway." He shot her a glare for that one and she responded by sticking her tongue out at him before putting the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Yes,' the voice on the other end of the phone said, sounding a bit miffed,' I'm looking for any information you might have on a Clover Mansfeld?"

"May I ask who this is and why you're calling?" Strange men calling later then one would typically consider polite to ask about her. That wasn't creepy at all. The voice remained silent for a while and Clover was just about to hang up when it finally responded.

"I'm family,on her fathers side, she was listed as a student here. I was just looking for information, just checking up on her." This time it was her turn to be silent. She stood there shocked into silence. Could it really be someone her father knew? No. No. Even if that was possible, almost everything about her life after Vegas was sealed. They wouldn't have been able to find her, not here. She looked up at Kitty and Remy, both wore expressions filled with worry and concern. 'Go get Storm' she mouthed to them. Remy got up immediately leaving the room to go find her, while Kitty stayed were she was.

"Who is this?" Her voice sounded firm and she was glad she was still able to appear calm because the voice on the other end of the phone was beginning to make her very concerned. Who was this man? How did he know where she was? What did he want with her?

"I told you I-,' the voice sounded annoyed. Well, she wasn't really all that happy with the direction this conversation was going either.

"Clover has never had any contact with her father what so ever, she has no family and I don't know where you're getting your information from but Clover Mansfeld is no longer a student at this institution." None of what she said was untrue, just a little misleading.

"What do you mean she's no longer a student?" The voice was starting to sound less annoyed and more panicked. "Where is she now?" Well there was no way in hell she was answering that. Where's Logan to rudely interrupt her on the phone when she actually needs him to.

"I'm sorry sir,' she said in a tone that she knew sounded far from apologetic,' that's all the information I can give you."

"Look,' the voice was starting to sound down right desperate,' you've got have some information on her. A forwarding address, a phone number-" she hung up. The whole conversation was just unnerving. Storm walked purposefully into the room with Remy right behind her.

"What's going on?"

"The phone rang and Remy thought it was Rogue but it wasn't, so I took over the call and it was some guy asking a bunch of questions about me and how I was a student here. He shouldn't have even known that I was here, how did he know I was here?" She was beyond wigged out and she couldn't help but think of how much better she'd feel if Logan was here. When he'd found her in Vegas she'd been in a bad situation, he'd told her she'd be safe with him and for the first time in her life since her mom had died she'd believe those words. She'd always be safe with Logan.

"Did the voice sound at all familiar,' Storm asked. Calm and in control as always.

"No. We can find out who it was right?" She'd sleep better at least knowing that someone was looking into the guy. Storm nodded.

"I'll get some one on it now. Until we have some answers I'd like for you to stay on campus though, okay?"

"Yeah, okay,' Clover said giving Storm a small, reassuring smile.

"Did he say anything else, anything at all, that could help to narrow down who it was?" Clover hesitated looking down and biting her lip.

"He said… Well he said he was family, like from my fathers side, but that doesn't make any sense. I've never met my dad." Storm's all business expression melted away to one of sympathy.

"We'll get to the bottom of this." Clover returned the smile Storm gave her as she walked out of the room leaving Clover, Remy, and Kitty.

"So… Are you actually gonna stay in tonight Ma Cherie?" Remy asked.

"Not a chance." She replied a mischievous smile on her face.

"Clove,' Kitty started with a concerned expression,' maybe it's not such a good idea tonight."

"Please, if anything I need a drink even more after that call." Before Kitty had a chance to reply Remy's phone began to ring. He answered the call walking slightly away from the girls. "See that's Rogue right now. She's gonna tell us where to meet her and we're going to go change and go have an awesome night out in the city. Okay?" Kitty gave a small smile.

"Yeah, alright that does sound good."

"See!" She said she as she shook Kitty's shoulders lightly. "That's my girl! We're gonna dance, we're going to have fun, and we're not going to pay for a single drink. Now let's go get dressed, Remy,' she said waving a little to get his attention. When he finally looked at her she spoke again,' we're gonna go get ready, meet up in front of the training room and we'll go." He simply gave her a thumbs up in response and resumed his conversation. The girls went to their separate rooms to get ready.


	3. Chapter 3

"Tony?" Pepper's voice was soft and concerned as she called out into the lab.

"Over here." He'd moved into the far back, assembling a mess of screens and servers all looking into Xavier's now. If, like the girl on the phone said, that was all the information she could give out, that meant they had more information to give.

"Oh, Tony,' Pepper exclaimed as soon as he came into sight. "Tony you need to get out of this lab and get some sleep."

"Not yet,' he said turning to look at her,' I'm not done."

"Tony you have to take care of yourself. You can't just sit down here wasting away. You have to sleep, you have to eat. You're not indestructible, and whatever project you're putting together it's not worth killing yourself over!" He looked up at Pepper. As sharp as her voice was, and even though she occasionally talked to him like he was more a child than a fully grown man, he knew it was because she cared, and she was concerned. Now was as good a time as any to tell her why this was so important. He sat down in his chair.

"I did a lot of things before you were my assistant Pep,' he said, his voice coming out quietly,'and I'm not particularly proud of most of them. A few months before I hired you I was at a pretty low point. I got a call from this girl I knew for a while, Emma. She had a baby, my baby. A little girl, her name was Clover." He smiled sadly at the memory. "I went to see her once, right after she was born. She had my hair, and my eyes. I figured she'd be better off with just Emma, so I walked away. I never even checked up on her, I just assumed she'd be fine." Guilt had filled his voice, and he was sure regret was written all over his face. "Apparently Emma died four years after that. Clover… She bounced around the system for awhile and then she just disappeared. She turned up at this school, and they won't tell me anything and what if somethings happened to her?" He looked up at Pepper again, clearly distressed. She tried to tamper down her shock as she leaned down to put her arm around his shoulders to try to provide some comfort.

"What do we know so far?" Her voice was controlled and calm. He knew it was her way of supporting him, helping him put the pieces together.

"After she disappeared from her last foster home in Vegas, she turned up at this boarding school, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. When I called to get information about her, they wouldn't give me any, so now I'm trying to find information on the school."

"Well, if your having trouble finding information about the school why not just go back to the source you originally heard about them from?"

"SHIELD. They had a file on her, most of its sealed. The fact that she had been there was all that Nat could get for me. Anything more would require Fury getting involved." She looked over at Tony giving him an incredulous look.

"So get Fury involved, Tony. I know you don't really trust him but if you're running all these searches and coming up with nothing he might be the only way to get to her." Tony sighed deeply. As helpful as Fury could be, his secrets had secrets and he knew he shouldn't trust him, but maybe he would have to. He was getting desperate.

"Okay." They both stared walking over to the table where his phone was laying when Tony suddenly stopped and turned to Pepper."If I can find her, and if she wants to, I want her to stay here for a while." He said it hesitantly, like he wasn't sure how she'd react. She let out a small laugh.

"Of course Tony. She's family, she belongs here." She said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Then she made an excited face as an idea popped into her head. "We should give her her own room here in the tower. We could let her stay in one of the guest rooms and clear out one of the rooms on our floor and she can decorate it any way she wants." Pepper continued to talk about furniture and paint as Tony picked up his phone. He couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. God he loved that woman.

Tony gathered the team together, minus the twins who were out and Clint who was home with his family for the weekend, as well as Fury. He figured he might as well tell everybody while he got information from Fury, two birds one stone. He approached the table where every one was seated.

"What is this about Stark? I'm a busy man and contrary to your belief the world does _not_ revolve around you,' Fury said.

"Do you really have better things to do at,' Tony checked his watch,' 11:30 on a Friday night."

"As a matter a fact I do, we've had some communication from an organization about some disturbing contact. They requested a meeting with me as well as some of the agents, so I repeat Stark, what do you want?"

"Look Patches, as much as it _pains_ me to admit it,' Tony began,' I actually need your help." He placed the file that Natasha had given him earlier that evening open on the table, sliding it towards the center for everyone to get a good look at it.

"The girls name is Clover Mansfeld. She's seventeen, and the last place I can trace back to her is Xavier's School. I can't seem to find any information on the place but according to my second favorite red head,' he said nodding toward Natasha,' SHIELD has some information on them."

"You're the mystery caller, aren't you,' Fury asked clearly irritated. "You called the school asking questions about this girl."

"How'd you know that,' Tony asked.

"They're the organization that requested a meeting. Apparently some strange man called the school requesting information on one of their students, one that no one should have know was there." Fury looked down at the documents in the file, clearly imprinted with SHIELD's markings, then over to Nat, his eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Since when does a school call SHIELD when they have a mysterious creepy caller? And since when do we keep files on teenage girls that require director level clearance to access them?" Natasha stared him down as she spoke, making it clear she felt justified in giving Tony the file.

"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters is none of your business Stark, and neither is Clover Mansfeld." Fury's voice was firm and he got up to leave the room.

"Clover Mansfeld is my daughter so _she_ is my business,' Tony's voice was as authoritative as Fury's had been,' and Xavier's is the last place she was seen so that makes _it_ my business." Well, if Tony hadn't had everyone's full attention before he definitely had it now.

"You have a daughter?!" Bruce was the first to recover from his shock.

"Oh god there's an other Stark out there in the world,' Natasha said sounding mildly horrified. "No wonder SHIELD was monitoring her, that girls bound to wreak havoc."

"Why was SHIELD monitoring her,' Steve asked, turning away from Tony and towards Fury. He sighed deeply.

"In light of recent,' he looked directly at Tony,' _revelations_ , I suppose I can read you all in on Xavier's. The school was founded by-"

"Charles Xavier,' Tony interrupted,'a humanitarian, a genius, and a philanthropist. Glimpsed all that in the bio, let's skip ahead to the classified parts." Fury stared him down for a full thirty seconds before continuing.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted, Charles founded the school for kids that were gifted like him. Charles has a mutation, called an x-gene. It gives him telepathic abilities."

"So you're saying Tony's daughter is a telepath?" Bruce asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

"No. The mutations that the x-gene causes in its hosts are always different. Some may be similar but we've yet to find two that are exactly alike."

"So she's not a telepathy,' Tony asked warily,' but she does have… Abilities."

"Yes. Mutants with the x-gene can have more than one ability. So far Clover has two. She has the ability to teleport at will as well as the ability to transform her body or her skin more specifically into a metallic armor of haven't been able to gather much information on how exactly they work, or if there are any limitations to what she can do with her abilities."

"Okay, so where do we go from here,' Tony asked.

"Well what exactly is it you want Tony?" Fury asked as he and the others looked at Tony expectantly.

"I want to get to know her. I want her to stay here, at the tower."

"I can get into contact with the school,' Fury said as he stood,'from what I understand Clover has already graduated, and she chooses to stay at Xavier's, so as long as they don't deem you a threat to her safety the choice will most likely be left up to her." With that he left the room. The silence that engulfed the remaining Avengers was very tense.

"Sooo…,' Bruce began, but he couldn't seem to find the rest of his sentence and the silence continued.

"Does Pepper know,' Natasha asked.

"Yes."

"Well okay then,' Steve said as he rose from his chair. He didn't really seem to know what to say either. "Keep us updated." He left as did Natasha.

"How long have you known?" Bruce's voice was finally returning to a normal tone.

"Seventeen years." Every time Tony said it he felt more guilty. Seventeen years he could have known his daughter. Thirteen years he could have taken her in to his care and out of the foster system.

"Why look for her now?" He didn't sound cruel or accusatory, he just sounded curious.

"When I saw Clint with his family… She was all I could think about. I wasn't planning on meeting her, I was just going to pull some files, check up on her, make sure she was okay, but then I found out Emma had died and… I'm the only family she has left, and she's the only family I have left. I just want to know her."


	4. Chapter 4

Clover was moving her hips to the beat of the music when she first spotted them. The two of them walked through the doors, the girl looked a little shy and out of place but the guy with her walked in like he owned the place. They looked like opposites in many ways. His hair was light, though dark at the roots, his eyes an electric blue, his shirt a dark sapphire color. Her hair was dark brown and wavy, not unlike Clovers, her eyes were green, and her outfit was mostly black with a red leather jacket over it. While he looked happy to be at the club, she looked like she'd rather be almost anywhere else. Clover nudged Kitty who was dancing next to her.

"What's up, lucky charm,' Kitty giggled. Maybe she'd had a little much to drink.

"I don't think I've ever seen them here before, how about you?" She asked nodding towards the pair.

"I'm not sure, they do look kind of familiar though." Kitty turned away a little and started to dance again as the two strangers made their way to the bar.

"Hey, I'll be right back, okay?"

"Alright, where are we headed after this,' Kitty asked shouting a little louder than was totally necessary. Clover looked down at her phone, 11:30.

"Let's stay here a little longer, then we'll swing by the diner on 179th and get some food in your stomach before we meet up with Remy and Rogue, sound good?"

"Yep. Count me in." Kitty started to giggle as she danced again and Clover couldn't help but laugh a little. Kitty was gonna be so hung over in the morning. She left Kit giggling on the dance floor and made her way over to the girl in the red leather jacket. She was sitting on a stool, nursing a drink while the guy she was with stood a few feet away hitting on a woman in a dress that covered barely anything, classy.

"Hey,' she said as the girl looked up at her and she stuck her hand out for the girl to shake ,'I'm Clover." The girl looked her up and down uncertainly then slowly shook her hand.

"Wanda,' the girl said, she had a thick accent, Eastern Europe maybe. She glanced over at the blue eyed guy, who appeared to be getting a girls number, then back at Clover. The look of irritation did not go unnoticed by Clover.

"So are you two here together,' Clover asked nodding to blue eyes guy.

"Oh god no, not like together together,' Wanda laughed out, clearly catching Clover implication,' he is my brother, Pietro. We were supposed to be getting to know the city, instead he drug me into the first place that looked like it was full of girls."

"Well what were you guys supposed to be doing, I mean I know you said exploring the city but did you have any specific plans?"

"Not really, see some of the night life, get a little more comfortable with the subway system, maybe find one of those diners that stays open all night."

"Well you already are seeing quite a bit of the night life here, and the subway really isn't hard to navigate, and as for the diner there one called JJ's on w 179th over by the college that's pretty good. Me and Kitty, shes my friend right over there,' Clover said pointing her out,' are actually going there after this, if you wanna join." Wanda got a big grin on her face and nodded. "So where are you guys from?"

"Slovakia,' Wanda said. "We grew up there, then moved here to New York about three months ago. We've been so busy training and settling in we haven't really gotten to see much of the city."

"Do you have your phone on you?"

"Yeah,' She replied as she took it out of her purse holding it out to her.

"Here,' Clover said, handing it back after putting her own number in it. "If you'd ever like a guide while you explore the city, just give me a call."

"Yes, okay,' Wanda said,' that sounds good."

"And me and Kitty are headed out to the diner after we're done here, we'll be out on the floor, just come on over if you want to join us." As she turned to walk away the girl grabbed her hand and she could feel her trying to crawl into her head. Most people would have written it off as a strange feeling or the beginning of a head ache but Clover knew better. She spun back around to face the girl, ripping her hand away as she did so.

"Didn't anybody ever tell you it's not nice to play with people's heads,' Clover said through clenched teeth. She was fuming. Blatantly using your abilities out in the open and on strangers was bad enough, but trying to pull that shit on another mutant was down right stupid, it was a sure fire way to start a fight. She caught a glimpse of the girls face, judging by the look on it she hadn't realized before her little glimpse into Clovers head that she was dealing with someone like her.

"I'm sorry,' the girl said raising her hands a little like she was surrendering. "Most people are not so nice for no reason, I was just trying to figure out if you had one. I did not know you were like us. I'm Wanda and that is my brother Pietro,' she said as she nodded towards the man that had come in with her. "I meant no harm, really." Clover let out a sigh. The girl seemed genuinely sorry.

"Look,' she said getting a little closer to Wanda again,' just keep your abilities to yourself when you're out and about okay?" She nodded. As Clover turned to walk away this time Wanda called out to her as she jumped off her stool.

"Wait, Clover, we don't ever really meet people like us ever, so I hope that offer to hang out is still open?" The girl looked up at her with hopefully eyes and she was just about to give in and say yes when Pietro came back over to them.

"Making a new friend I see little sister, and such a beautiful one." His accent was as thick as his sisters. That was were their similarities seemed to stop. Wanda seemed kind and honest, Pietro seemed hard to get a read on. At least he came off as charming and not sleezy like a lot of the other guys here, the man had charisma, she'd give him that. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend,' he asked looking down at his sister. She sighed giving him an annoyed glare.

"Clover, this is my brother Pietro, Pietro this is Clover." She smiled widely at him and whispered,' she's like us." He looked at Clover with an inquisitive expression.

"What can you do?"

"First off that's not really a question you ask someone right off the bat, it's a little rude. Second,' she checked the time, 11:50,' it's about time for me and Kitty to be going." She turned to walk away and this time instead of trying to stop her Wanda followed her, with Pietro following Wanda.

"We can come with you though, yes? Just to the diner, I am famished." She turned around and looked at Wanda. Her eyes were big and round and pleading. While she was still a little pissed the girl had used her powers on her, she had to admit, Wanda was down right adorable, which made her hard to say no to. She sighed.

"Yeah, fine. Come along. You can even bring Casanova over here,' Clover said nodding towards Pietro. "Just keep your abilities to yourselves, both of you,' she said as they made their way back to Kitty. She didn't know what Pietro's ability was and she didn't really care as long as he wasn't using it blatantly in public.

"Hey Kitty Cat,' Clover said as she reached out to put a steadying arm around her friends waist. "How does greasy diner food and some coffee sound?"

"Like a good idea,' Kitty groaned clearly starting to come down from her buzz a little. Clover laughed again.

"Alright pretty girl lets go." They started walking out and Clover made introductions. They hailed a cab and all climbed in the back. The cab ride over was pretty quiet. Clover could see that Wanda was bursting with questions and she was glad the girl was smart enough to hold them in with the cabby right there. When they were seated in the diner though all of them seemed to come spilling out of her mouth the instant she opened it.

"How long have you had powers? Where did you get them? How old were you? Does kitty have powers too? You seem pretty good with teleportation, did someone train you or did you figure it out yourself? Do you know more people like us? How many more do you think are out there? Do you-"

"Okay, alright,' Clover said cutting her off. "One question at a time and keep your voice down a little, please. Now what do you mean 'gotten them?' How did you get yours?" He brother and her exchanged a look then he spoke.

"We were experimented on by scientists." While she was sure there was more to the story, and she wanted to hear the rest of it, she let it slide. If she had to judge by the look they'd given each other it seemed to be a bit of a sore subject.

"Oh." She let a beat of silence pass. "We're mutants. There's a genetic mutation on our 23rd chromosome, it's called an X-gene. That's where our abilities come from. Usually any one with the X-gene gets their abilities in their early teens, or if there's a traumatic event they can get their abilities sooner, I got mine when I was six. Kitty does have powers as well,' Kitty gave the a thumbs up and a small smile as if she were confirming it. "We were both trained at Xavier's, it's kinda like a school for people like us and yeah the schools usually pretty full so there are a lot of people like us out there." After she'd finished the twins sat in silence, seeming to take in everything that she had said.

"Good evening, and welcome to JJ's. What can I get for ya'll to drink this evening,' the waitress asked as she approached the table.

"Coffee, lots and lots of coffee,'Clover responded. The waitress smiled and looked from Clover to Kitty then at the twins.

"So a round of coffee for the table then?"

"Yes, please,' Wanda responded. The waitress left as quickly as she'd come.

"I don't feel so good,' Kitty said, making a face. Then she jumped up and ran for the bathroom. Clover started to get up to follow her but Wanda stopped her.

"I will help her, I have to go anyway." Clover debated following them anyway, but Wanda seemed nice enough so she let them go.

"So what's your story,' Pietro asked.

"I think I just told most of it to you. Um, I grew up in Vegas just kinda bouncing around from foster home to foster home. Once I didn't like one anymore or something bad would happen I'd teleport out and stay gone for a few days, running away is one of the only sure ways to get kicked out of a home, and then I'd get a new one. When I was thirteen I met Logan and he brought me back to Xavier's, and I've been there ever since. What about you, what's your story?"

"We grew up in Slovakia, just me and Wanda after our parents died. We got street smart pretty fast. Eventually we met a scientist that told us he could help us help the people of Slovakia if we were willing so we did. That's how we wound up with our powers. So this Logan, how did you meet him?"

"I met Logan after I got into some trouble with this organization. They were essentially trying to hunt me down and I was hiding from them, poorly, and they had found me. I was running as fast as I could but they were gaining on me and all of a sudden a ran into this man. The second he saw the men chasing me he shoved me behind him and went at them. Once the claws came out they really didn't stand a chance."

"Claws,' Pietro asked with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah claws, like actual long metal claws that shoot out from between his knuckles,' she laughed as she said it. "Before Kitty came to Xavier's I would call Logan Kitty Claws sometimes, only when he was being really irritating. He used to freak out. Anyway he tried to walk back towards me after he took the guys out and my skin just kinda automatically shifted into its defensive state. He took one look at me and knew I belonged at Xavier's. So he took me with him and I glued myself to his hip for the next few years."

"What do you mean defensive state?"

"Well when I feel threatened or when I'm in a fight my skin turns kinda metal or metallic, metal like. We're not really sure, they'd have to run some tests to find out exactly what it was and in not really up for that. So,' she said looking up at him with a smile,' now that you know both my abilities, care to share yours?" They both had to wait a beat to start talking again as the waitress gave them their coffees. Clover gave her a thank you as she left before turning her attention back to Pietro.

"Well essentially I run fast." She gave him an unimpressed look.

"Really, that's it? I'm not gonna lie,' she said, teasing him,' I'm a little disappointed."

"Oh, really,' he responded playfully.

"Oh yeah. Your sisters a telepath, I can teleport, Kitty can walk through walls, and can run fast? Pretty unimpressive."

"You think so,' he asked with a smirk.

"YeAH,' the last part came out as a shriek as he lifted her up and out of the booth and hoisted her into his arms. "What are you doing?" Instead of responding he smirked at her before speeding around the block, setting her back in her seat, then taking his own again, all in a matter of about two seconds.

"You know,'Clover said laughing lightly,' sometimes when I teleport people for the first time they say it feels like they left there stomach where I transported them from and it takes a second for it to catch up. I don't think I really understood what they were talking about until just now. It's kind of sickening." Pietro gave her an apologetic look.

"I am sorry, I did not mean to make you feel bad,' he said as he looked down into his coffee. When he looked back up he wore a different look on his face. "Nausea is not the feeling I was hoping to make you feel towards me." Her mouth actually fell open as her eyebrows shot up, was he actually flirting with her? It's not that he was unattractive, he was down right gorgeous, she just hadn't been expecting it. But hey, she thought, it couldn't hurt to play along just to see where it would go.

"And just what kind of feelings were you hoping I'd feel towards you,' she asked with a smile, a single eyebrow raised as she looked him up and down. Right as he opened his mouth to respond Wanda and Kitty came back from the bathroom. By then the waitress had brought by the toast Clover had ordered for Kitty as well.

"Oh,' Kitty groaned,' I shouldn't have had so much to drink." She put her head in her hands.

"You'll be okay sweetie just sip and nibble,' Clover said as she put a comforting arm around her friends shoulders. After that conversation flowed smoothly between the four of them. Kitty finished her coffee and most of the toast and the four of them went outside. Wanda and Pietro had decided to call it a night and Kitty and Clover were going to meet Rogue and Remy, so they waited together for their cabs and continued to chat. As their cabs approached they all said their good byes.

"Text me anytime, I was serious about that tour guide thing, okay,' she asked as she gave Wanda a hug.

"Okay,' Wanda replied, smiling. She walked over to say good bye to Kitty as Clover stepped over towards Pietro.

As she gave him a hug he whispered in her hear "Can I text you any time too?" His breathe was hot against her ear and it made her shiver. She spared a quick glance at the other two girls to make sure neither were paying attention before tightening her arms around him, leaving no space between their bodies.

"Of course,' she whispered back,' I'm looking forward to it." Then she simply let go and walked back to the girls, a large grin plastered on her face. Pietro followed a few moments later and they all got in their separate cabs.

Kitty and Clover laughed as they took in Rogue and Remy's appearance as they walked into the bar. They both wore large grind on their faces, and they looked absolutely over joyed after spending just a few hours together.

"You two couldn't be more sickeningly cute, could you,' Clover called over to them, making a fake gagging noise.

"Don't be jealous just because we had more fun than y'all tonight Clover,' Rogue said with a laugh.

"Yeah Cherie, green isn't your color,' Remy shot back at her, still grinning.

"Yeah, well, we had a pretty good time ourselves ,' she said with a smile.

"Kitty sure looks like it,' Rogue said, unable to keep her laughter in at their obviously already hung over friend.

"Don't laugh at me,' Kitty groaned. "I'm in pain." Remy laughed again while Rogue smacked his shoulder as she put a comforting hand on Kitty's back.

"Go get the poor thing a glass of water,' she said to Remy.

"What's the magic word?" She shot him a condescending look before speaking again in a tone that matched it.

"Please?"

"Actually the magic word was hot-stuff but I'll grab the water anyway since I'm in such a good mood,' he said with a grin as he walked towards the bar.

"Hot-stuff is just two words and a hyphen, genius,' Clover called after him. She and Rogue began to laugh as they exchanged a look before shaking their heads and rolling their eyes.

"So other than lettin' Kitty get drunker than a skunk, what did you two get up to tonight,' Remy asked as he returned and handed Kitty her water.

"We club hopped for a little while, then we met these twins, a guy and a girl, they were nice. We all might hang out again sometime."

"Oohhh, was the guy good lookin,' Rogue asked smirking at her.

"I am standing right behind you,' Remy said indignantly.

"I'm aware,' replied Rogue. When she heard him huff behind her she let out a laugh,' I'm only asking cause I think Clover could use a guy. Relax big guy, I'm all yours… For now,' she added teasingly at the end. Remy shot her an annoyed glare but eventually returned his attention to Clover.

"Yeah, he was pretty cute,' Clover said, largely down playing her attraction to him.

"Yeah,' Kitty said lifting her head from where it had been laying on the bar,' so cute she stayed at the table to flirt with him while I was puking in the bathroom and they were practically dry humping outside the diner while they thought me and his sister weren't paying attention." Clover automatically turned bright red. Had they been that obvious? Well apparently they had been.

"We were not dry humping!"

"Whatever, close enough,' Kitty mumbled as she sat her head down on the bar.

"Maybe we should get you home,' Clover said looking at Kitty with concern.

"Very subtle change of subject,' Rogue made the sarcasm clear in her voice,' but no way are you getting out of this conversation that easily."

"I'm serious guys look at her." They all turned to look at Kitty who appeared to be half asleep on the bar already.

"Okay, yeah we need to get her outta here,' Remy said.

The girls said goodbye to Rogue, Kitty half supported by Clover, then wondered a bit up the block to give Remy and her a minute to say goodbye. When Remy was ready, Clover transported them back to Xavier's.

Clover teleported the three of them back into the corridor that Remy and Kitty's rooms were in.

"Well I don't know about you ladies but I'm all partied out,' Remy said as he and Clover helped Kitty sit down on her bed. "I'm gonna get some sleep." He said good night to both of them, then left for his own room.

"I'm exhausted too." Clover leaned in for a hug. "Sleep tight, Kitty Cat."

"Sweet dreams, Clover,' Kitty mumbled back.

She started walking towards her room on the other side of the school. Ever since she'd graduated she had to room in the teachers corridor, not that she minded. She liked having somewhere so quiet to go, not to mention the rooms themselves were more spacious. If she ever did miss the student dorms all she had to do was blink herself into Kitty and Rogues room. The walk across the campus was quiet, not a surprise with the late hour. She felt her phone vibrate as she walked.

1:12 am - **Hey it's Wanda, my brother was asking for your phone number, I just wanted to make sure it was okay that I give it to him first**

Aww. Wanda was so considerate. She could really see herself being good friends with this girl.

1:12 am- _Yeah, that'd be okay. So when are you free for a tour of New York? We're talking best pizza, best bars, and of course best food trucks and clothing shops_

1:13 am- **That sounds great!** **I'm free Monday all day, would that be good for you?**

1:13 am- _Works perfect for me_ _, se_ _e you then!_

1:13 am- **Definitely! Can I make a request though?**

1:14 am- _Yeah, sure. What's up?_

1:14 am- **Can we eat something called shawarma for lunch?**

1:14 am **-** _Yeah okay, we can do that. Any particular reason for the sudden hankering for meat cooked on a stick?_

1:15 am- **A few of mine and Pietro's friends talk about it sometimes, but I've never had it**

1:15 am- _Say no more. Shawarma for lunch it is_

As soon as her door came into sight she stopped in her tracks. Her light was on and the door was wide open. If she lived anywhere else It might be alarming, but Xavier's being as safe as it was she knew someone was probably just snooping through her stuff.

She put her phone away then burst into her room intent on bitching out whoever was in there only to come face to face with Storm. All anger was immediately replaced with embarrassment over getting caught sneaking back in.

"Hey Storm, what's up?" She figured she was better off to play it cool, maybe she could still get out of this without getting a stern talking to.

"Where were you,' between Storms tone, the question itself, and the look on her face, Clover was already caught.

"I went out." She sighed, she really was all partied out, it was almost one and she'd prefer to receive any speeches in the morning. "Look I know I shouldn't have gone out. I was upset over the phone call and I decided to go out and distract myself instead of dealing with it. It was reckless and I'm sorry if I worried you Storm." In all honesty she just wanted to go to sleep, and if pretending to be a responsible adult was going to get her in bed sooner, she'd do it. Silence followed for a few moments until Storm finally looked up at her and she immediately knew something had happened. She didn't look angry or even just disappointed, she looked apologetic and even maybe a little unsure. "What's wrong?"

"Clover, its about the call you got earlier… I don't really know how to approach this so I'm just going to tell you. The man who called was your father." Her first reaction was pure shock. Her father. The father she hadn't ever met.

"Are you… You're sure?" Everything felt so surreal.

"Yes. Clover, do you feel alright? Your starting to look a little pale honey." Hearing the concern in Storms voice snapped her out of her daze.

"Yeah. Just a, just surprised." She took a deep breath and blew out a sigh. "So what does he want?"

"He wants to get to know you,' Storm said taking Clovers hands in hers and smiling. "He wants you to spend the summer with him." An instant debate began in her head. Leave Xavier's for the whole summer? She didn't really want to go somewhere where she would have to hide her powers. They were a part of her and she loved using them. Mainly teleporting, she'd never climb another flight of stairs. Then again this was her _dad._ He was the only living relative she had left and he wanted to know her… But would he want to once he knew she was a mutant? She met many kids whose parents had just thrown them out or shipped them to Xavier's and forgotten them.

"Storm, how am I going to tell him, about my powers I mean. Do you think I even should? If I shouldn't there's no way I can spend the whole summer with him! Weekends. Maybe. I mean-"

"Clover,' Storm said loudly, shaking here a little. "He already knows, and he's okay with it. And I don't think you need to worry about being too far away, he's in New York City." Well that at least was a relief. The more she thought about it the more she leaned towards stay the summer with her dad. Logan was gone anyway and she could see Rogue, Remy, and Kitty on weekend when they all went out on the town together.

"What else do you know about him? Does he have any other kids? Does he have a wife? What's he like?" She had so many questions.

"Well he doesn't have any other kids, he doesn't have a wife but I do think he's seeing someone, and if you want to know what he's like you're going to have to spend the summer with him. I can tell you one thing about him that might shed a little light on it."

"Okay." She nodded indicating Storm should continue.

"His name is Tony Stark." And the shock was back in full force. Tony FUCKING Stark. Tony FUCKING Stark. Just, wow. Wait…

"Like billionaire tech mogul/ super hero/ friends with star spangled skin tight suit wearing babe Captain America? That Tony Stark?" Holy shit.

"Yeah, that Tony Stark. Look there is no pressure to make a decision now. Sleep in it tonight, then tomorrow, if you're open to it, you and him can have lunch, and you can decide after that, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." She and Storm exchanged small smiles, then Storm gave Clovers hands a light squeeze and left. Clover would take the night to sit on her decision but really she'd already made it. She would spend the summer getting to know her dad.


	5. Chapter 5

It was too early for all the bio genetics talk even if she was majoring in it, but his work was one of Hank's favorite subjects, so Clover let him rambled on. It wasn't as bad as it used to be, at least she actually understood what he said these days, understanding genetics jargon was a side effect of spending time anywhere near Hank. If it hadn't been for him she'd probably still be debating a major.

"So,' He said seeming to have finally finished,' what's this I hear about your father getting in contact with you?" Clover set her coffee down and looked at him across the breakfast table.

"Well, he called and long story short it looks like I'll probably be spending the summer with him, depending on how lunch goes later today." She tried not to convey any emotion in her voice. If worst came to worst and lunch went horribly or if something happened during the summer she'd rather play it cool now so nobody would know she was disappointed. The last thing she wanted was pity if everything went to shit.

"And is staying with him something you want to do?" Hank wasn't being nosey, he was just concerned, Clover knew that. She had been at Xavier's for four years and though she'd become good friends with Kitty, Rogue, and Remy, they'd only been there for the last two years, before that she'd spent most of her time with staff members, Hank, Storm, and mainly Logan.

"Yeah, I do. He's my dad and he's a complete stranger and if I have the chance to change that I'm willing to."

"Does Logan know yet?" And there it was, the question she'd been dreading. Partially because Logan didn't know, and she wasn't sure she wanted to tell him. Logan had saved her back in Vegas and had been her protector ever since, he looked out for her, so she knew he wouldn't like the idea of her moving in and spending the summer with someone that neither of them really knew. The other reason she'd been dreading it was because it made her think of why Logan still didn't know, he hadn't called yet. Since he'd left he'd actually been calling her more than once a week, usually calling around every four days but today made seven days since he'd called last and thinking about everything that could have happened to him made her stomach turn. She pushed her plate away from her before responding to Hank.

"Nope. Hasn't called yet." Her voice was emotionless and her eyes were vacant as she looked at Hank and he knew her well enough to know that she shut down when she started to feel too emotional. Whether that coping mechanism was something she'd picked up in the foster system or just started to copy from Logan was something he'd always wondered. Instead of pushing her he switched back to the original subject.

"What do you know about him, your father?"

"Well he's Tony Stark." She looked up at Hank and couldn't help the howling laughter that escaped her. His jaw was on the table, his eyes were wider than she thought possible, to say he looked shocked was an understatement.

"Yeah I think that was about the look on my face when Storm told me too. Who'd have thought, right?"

"Oh no, Clover, the similarities are astounding,' he remarked shaking his head slightly, a teasing tone to his voice. "The looks, the arrogance, and,' his tone became slightly more serious,' then there's the brains."

"Okay,' Clover said sounding doubtful,' I graduated high school at sixteen, not MIT. I may be pretty smart, but I'm not Tony Stark brilliant."

"No, you're just a girl who was a high school valedictorian at the age of sixteen, a full time teacher and NYU student who could have had an associates at the age of 17 if you weren't two whole credit hours shy because you flunked, and I can't believe I'm saying this, an introduction to student life class." He said the last part with the same level of incredulity he had when he'd found out about it after she'd gotten her final grades earlier this week.

"It was too boring."

"It was easy, you should have just done it."

"Hank,' she whined,' it was too easy, that's what made it boring. I don't do well when I'm bored. I loose focus and my mind wonders and then eventually I get so bored I just start doing whatever pops into my head and chaos ensues. It was really better for everyone that I stopped going to that class, who knows, I might've accidentally sent something on fire out of boredom."

"It was one of three classes you actually had to be on campus for, are you sure you just didn't find something better to do?" Hanks voice implied he already knew damn well about her on campus "friend" who had lived in the dorms this last semester. He was a Italian doing a semester abroad and he was also supposed to be taking Intro to Student Life. They usually skipped it and just headed back to his room.

"Well if the class had been even the least bit interesting I wouldn't have had to find something else to do. I'm sticking by what I said, had I stayed in that class boredom would have gotten the better of me and the whole school would have gone down in flames, still accidentally of course. And maybe not the whole school, maybe just the Sociology building."

"The last time I recall you setting something on fire it was most definitely not an accident." The look on his face was far from amused but Clover couldn't help but laugh again. She could recall the day he was talking about. It'd been in her early days at Xavier's, when she'd been angry and more than a little out of control. She'd snuck into the lab and poured some potassium permanganate into a small beaker, then set it on the edge of her lab desk. When class had begun she opened a bottle of Glycerine and spilled a little on the floor before 'accidentally' knocking the beaker off the edge of the desk. The fire was small but startling enough that they closed down the lab for the day to be cleaned. Instead of spending the next hour and a half listening to Hank drone on about lab safety she'd gotten to hit the gym early for her favorite activity, practicing on the punching bag. Hank had always know she'd set the fire on purpose but he'd never been able to prove it.

"Excuse me,' she said with a very fake offended tone,' have you ever heard of innocent till proven guilty? Besides even if I did start one tinsy winsy fire, which I'm not admitting I did, it was totally safe and did practically no damage other than some light scorching on the floor."

"You were a real hellion back then,' Hank reminisced, his tone softening as he looked at her. "You've come a long way. I'm proud of you." She gave a little laugh and looked down at her hands, growing uncomfortable with the genuine praise. She always preferred to keep things more light hearted.

"If you're saying I was just a hellion back then I've clearly been slacking off lately,' she joked with a smile. Hank gave a little laugh before standing.

"Well I'm sure you've got better things to do than chatter with me this morning,' Hank began before walking towards her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I hope your lunch goes well Clover."

"Thanks Hank." Then he walked out of the kitchen, probably to his lab. Clover blew out a breathe before turning towards the door to head to her own room to get ready for lunch.

Too short, too grungy, shows way too much cleavage. Jesus, did she own a shirt that was appropriate for lunch with her father?

"Why would you let me drink so much,' Kitty groaned as she threw the door open dramatically.

"Yes, come on in, don't knock or anything,' Clover said, annoyed. "If you've just come to complain about your lack of self control around booze you'll have to go find Remy because I'm busy." She didn't mean to be rude but the closer noon got the more stressed she was.

"I'll say, it looks like a clothing department threw up in here,' Kitty said as she looked at the piles of clothing all around the room. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing,' Clover said still sifting through clothes,' the cute guy from last night still hasn't texted yet, Logan hasn't called in seven days, oh and the strange call from last night was my father, who I'm going out to lunch with today." She let silence hang in the air for a minute before dropping the top in her hands and turning to look at Kitty. She had frozen in place, her eyes looking like they were going to bug out of her head.

"Your WHAT?! Since when…. How did … Even… WHAT?!"

"Yep. Help me find something suitable to wear?" She turned back to the piles of clothes and began to go through them again, waiting for kitty to join her. When she finally did Clover filled her in on the details, how storm had told her, that he was Tony Stark, how completely fucking freaked out she was, the whole spending the summer at the tower thing. They finally settled on a loose black tank top with an arrow design down the front, a blue three quarter sleeved flannel, shorts that came down to mid thigh, and a pair of grey vans.

"Well, are you ready,' Kitty asked, sounding a but apprehensive herself.

"Yeah, I think I am." Clover's voice sounded uncertain even to her. Her father wasn't something she'd ever really thought about. After her mother had died she just hadn't had any family, that was just the way it was, she'd accepted that. Now everything was different, he existed, he was out there and he wanted to know her. All of a sudden she felt like a small child in the doorway of a foster home all over again. Would she be liked enough to be kept around? Would the way she looked be okay? How was she expected to act? She hated not feeling confident as a kid, so she'd adopted 'a nothing really matters that much to me' attitude paired with an' I'll do what I want' mentality. It had served her well over the years but right now she could feel it crumpling. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then looked over at Kitty. "Wish me luck." She gave her a quick hug, then Clover walked out the door, jogging towards the foyer to meet Storm.

-TONY-

"She agreed to come to lunch,' Tony said to Pepper as he hung up. He and Pepper had been in the lab, waiting for the the school to call and let them know. Tony was walking around tinkering with parts, forever unable to sit still, and Pepper had been sitting at a lab table filling out some paper work for Stark Industries.

"I'll confirm the reservations,' Pepper responded with a smile, putting down her pen and pushing the paper work aside and standing up to retrieve her phone from her bag across the lab.

"Make sure its for five,' Tony called after her.

"Five,' Pepper asked turning back to him with a confused expression. "Are two escorts from her school really necessary?"

"No, they're just sending one teacher with her. The extra seat is for you,' Tony told her with a smile. "If you want to come that is. It's probably going to be painfully awkward so if you-"

"I'd love to come Tony,' Pepper interrupted him. "I just wouldn't want her to feel like I'm intruding. This is the first time Clover really gets to meet you. I think the more private it is the better it'll be." She turned away getting her phone before almost immediately turning back. "However I would love to meet her. How about I come with the car to pick you up after and I can meet her then?" Tony smiled as he walked over to Pepper, taking her face in his hands.

"That sounds perfect,' he said as he leaned down to kiss her,' absolutely perfect."

Tony paced up and down in the hallway. It may have been the first time in his life Tony was ready before Pepper. It was also probably the first time in his life he was ready for a lunch early too.

"You look nervous,' Bruce said, walking towards Tony while moving his clip board from in front of him, clearly headed back upstairs to the lab.

"I'm not nervous I'm…,"

"You're fidgeting like your nervous,' Bruce remarked. He had stopped walking about a foot from Tony and crossed his arms.

"I'm excited, not nervous. And I'm not fidgeting, I'm… Moving excitedly." He pushed off the wall he had leaved against and began to pace again.

"Alright then." He looked down at his watch, then back up at Tony. "Almost lunch time huh?"

"Yep."

"Where are you guys going?"

"Le Chay." Bruce let out a low whistle.

"What?" Tony had stopped pacing to look at Bruce with a confused expression.

"That's a little fancy for a teenager isn't it?" Shit. She was seventeen. She probably just wanted burgers and fries, not tapas. Tony was the same way, the only reason they'd ended up at Le Chays was because he'd felt the urge to have the lunch somewhere nice.

"Shit."

"Just cancel your reservation, take her to a diner." Bruce could see Tony stressing and all teasing aside he felt the need to reassure his friend. "Look, in the end what's going to matter is that you reached out. She's not coming to lunch for the food. She's going to get to know you."

"Yeah,' Tony said, seeming to have calmed down a bit. "Yeah you're right." The elevator opened a moment later and Pepper stepped out with Happy in tow.

"You're ready,' Pepper sounded surprised.

"I happen to be a responsible adult,' Tony said defiantly.

"Yeah maybe 12% of one,' Pepper said.

"I'm never gonna live that one down am I?"

"Not a chance,' She told him with a smile. Tony gave a small laugh.

"Go ahead and cancel those reservations Pep,' Tony said looking over at Bruce with a small smile.

"What? Where are you going to eat Tony?"

"I've got a place in mind."

"Alright,' Happy said, stepping out from behind Pepper,' let's get this show on the road.

-Clover-

The whole ride if was kind of a blur. They were having lunch at some place down town, a diner apparently. Clover had pulled up her calm and collected façade. She sat next to Storm in the back of the car, occasionally commenting on whatever she said but not really paying attention. When the car came to a stop she swallowed her momentary panic before getting out.

"Are you ready,' Storm asked.

"Yeah, I am." She turned and walked into the diner, looking around until she saw him. He was wearing a dark t-shirt under a black leather jacket, and he was staring directly at her. Once they'd caught sight of each other they seemed to freeze for a moment, each of them stopping to make sure the other was actually there. There was another man with him as well but instead of looking just at Clover and Storm his eye flitted around the room like he was watching for something. Once Clover regained the use of her feet she strode forward to their table.

"Hey, I'm Clover." She didn't stick her hand out but she did give him a small smile, which he returned, before sitting down. "And this,' she said gesturing to Storm as she took a seat,' white haired vision is Storm." Storm gave a small laugh and held her hand out to Tony.

"It's good to meet you,' she said as they shook. Tony nodded.

"Happy,' The man said as he raised his hand and gave the women a small smile. "I'm Tony's head of security."

"So...,' Tony began, looking straight at Clover,' do you have any questions for me?" That got a laugh out of Clover.

"Um, yeah I have a few,' she said. "Why don't we just start with you telling me anything I might need to know if I decide to live with you this summer."

"Okay well, I live at the tower with Pepper, and all the other Avengers, so you'd really be staying with all of us. Pepper mentioned that it'd be a good idea for you to have your own space so we were thinking that maybe you could stay on the dorm floor with the guys for the first few days while everything's being done the way you like it for your room on mine and Peppers floor. If you want that is. If you'd be more comfortable you could just stay on the dorm floor, if that's what you wanted." Tony's tone had started out matter-of-fact shifted to slightly unsure before quickly changing to whatever it's your call.

"Besides the Avengers is there anyone else who stays on the dorm floor?" Storm had cut into the conversation, unsurprisingly. Clover figured she would be asking as many questions about exactly where she'd be staying, who else would be there, as well as any other information she could squeeze out of Tony about the tower.

"Occasionally we have other guests. SHIELD agents, sometimes visiting lab personnel like Dr. Foster, and guests of the other Avengers."

"Dr. Foster? She's the astrophysicist who furthered studies with The Convergence, right,' Clover asked.

"Yeah… Are you interested in astronomy?" Tony looked surprised.

"Oh no, I just heard about it from Hank, he's got a Ph. D. In Biophysics but he dabbles in other things too. If you hang around him enough you're bound to pick some of it up."

"You pick anything to do with mechanical or electrical engineering?" Instead of looking surprised this time when Tony spoke he looked hopeful. He was probably hoping they'd found a subject they could bond over.

"No, not really. I'm more of a genetics girl,' she said almost apologetically. "I'm actually majoring in Biogenetic Engineering."

"What? Does Hank know that,' Storm asked.

"Oh god no, he'd never let me leave the lab if he knew he could have actual conversations with me about adaptive mutations and epistasis where I actually responded. I do the same thing with him that I do with you, when the final grades are posted I read off the grades but not the classes. The only one he ever asked about was the one that I flunked."

"Yeah he told me about that, Intro to Student Life, really?"

"It was too boring, mind wondering, chaos ensuing, I already explained all of this to Hank this morning,' Clover said.

"Yeah,' Storm said skeptically,' he seemed to think it had less to do with the class being boring and more to do with you finding a more interesting way to spend your time." Clover picked up her drink to take a sip in order to hide her smile.

"Well if the class had been more interesting I wouldn't have had to find something else to do,' Clover said defiantly. Happy laughed and shook his head. "What,' she asked looking at him curiously.

"Nothing, you just… You just remind me of someone,' he spared a glance at Tony before picking up his menu.

Clover looked across the table at Tony, then back at Storm. "Could you give us a minute Storm?" She looked surprised but she nodded. Tony looked at Happy and gave him a nod and he rose as well. He and Storm walked up to the counter, sitting down at the stools.

"What's up kiddo?" Tony looked genuinely curious.

"Why now? I mean, I'm not mad or upset that you didn't reach out before and I don't want you to think this is about to turn into a fight or an episode of Doctor Phil. I don't even really expect some great reason, I just can't stop wondering, why now?" Silence hung over them for a moment and Tony looked like he was struggling for words. She waited patiently, never taking her eyes off of him.

"When everything was happening with Ultron, I don't know, I just couldn't get you off of my mind. I wasn't planning on actually making contact, I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were okay. Then I found out about Emma and you were in the foster system, then you disappeared. I had to see you in person to make sure you were really alright. The more I found out about you, the more I wanted to know, that's why I asked you to live with me this summer." When Tony finished he looked relieved to have finally gotten it over with.

"Okay,' she nodded. "So do you have any questions for me?" He looked up at her surprised. "Look I know you know about the mutation, my abilities, all about Xavier's. It's a lot to take in and I've seen my file and I know it can be a little vague, so do you have any questions?" Tony thought for a moment, he had lots of questions.

"How did you end up at Xavier's?" She smiled a little, she'd expected question about her abilities or training.

"At my last foster home, with the Winters, I had apparently caught the attention of this organization, Hydra." Tony's eyes grew wider and he became very still. "I really should have been more careful about using my powers, but I wasn't thinking. Anyway, they were kind of hunting me down at that point and I didn't really have full control of my teleportation then. I could do short distances no problem but the longer the distance the more exhausted I got. I was probably about a block ahead of them when all of a sudden I ran right into a wall. My powers took over and one second I was smashing into it and the next I was on the ground on the other side. Turns out it wasn't a wall, it was Logan. He glared down at me like he wanted to smack me over the head, and he probably did since using your abilities so blatantly out in the opens a huge no no. Then he got a look at me and he could tell that I was scared and I think he thought I was scared of him cause he started to back off, and then those three Hydra guys came around the corner. Logan just went after them, chased them back around the corner and I ran for it. After he was done with them he came back to find me and when he did he told me I was coming with him. I, of course, started to back away ready to run again and he puts his arms out to his sides and these metal claws just shoot out of his hands. He just looked at me and says 'I'm like you, and you're going to come with me, and you're going to be safe, so get in the truck kid.' I'd never met someone else with abilities before. I was so stunned I just kinda went along with it. I was exhausted and I fell asleep in the truck and I woke up when we were almost to Xavier's." Looking back at the memory now she really couldn't believe she'd gotten in that truck.

"Wow,' was Tony's only reply. He seemed to be still taking the story in.

"Yeah, I know. Getting in the truck was actually pretty stupid, which isn't a word most people would use to describe me. Reckless? Yes. Spiteful? Occasionally. Stupid? Never. There was just something about Logan that I trusted. Maybe it was because he was the first person I'd meant, maybe it was because he'd just saved my ass but what ever the reason was, I'm glad I did. Because of that one stupid move I finally had a home again."

"So Xavier's, you like it there?"

"Yeah, I like it enough that even after I graduated last year I stuck around."

"Right, you graduated already." Tony was alittle sad he'd missed that milestone.

"Valedictorian, yeah. I got a scholarship to NYU. I've been taking mostly online classes while I teach self defense at Xavier's."

"You teach self defense? Not science?"

"No Hanks got most of the science classes covered, though I do occasionally fill in if he's busy. The usual self defense teacher, Logan actually, likes to wonder away from campus for a month or two at a time so now I'm the regular teacher and he occasionally fills in for me when he's around. So what about you? I know Pepper Potts is the CEO of your company now, so are you just working with the Avengers full time?"

"Yeah, improving the current equipment and uniforms, and occasionally helping to train the newer members, though that's really more of a Cap and Natasha thing."

"Newer members?" She'd heard that Captain America had gotten a side kick and that Tony had gotten one as well, but those were just tumors as far as she knew.

"Yeah, Rhodey's been with us for a while now, and Cap brought Sam in a while back, and we brought the twins back from Slovakia with us." Twins. Slovakia. No fucking way.

"The twins, huh? Their names wouldn't happen to be Wanda and Pietro would they?"

"They would,' Tony said giving her a strange look. "How did you know that?" Clover gave a small laugh shaking her head.

"We've met. Last night actually. I have plans with Wanda on Monday. She said she's been pretty busy since she got to the city so she hadn't really seen much of it, so I offered to show her around."

"Well, look at you. You haven't even moved into the tower and you've made friends already." Tony was glad she already knew someone in the tower, it made it more likely she'd be comfortable staying in the tower for the summer. He was unhappy, however, that it had to be the twins, the two people who probably liked him least in the tower.

Storm and Happy returned to the table shortly after and they all made small talk for the rest of lunch. When it was time for them to go Tony paid the check and they all walked towards the door, Happy in front, Tony and Clover walking side by side, and Storm following closely behind.

"So,' Clover began,' I'll go back to Xavier's with Storm, pack up, have some dinner, and I'll probably be at the tower around 8. Sound good?" Tony stopped walking momentarily to look at her. They hadn't really discussed her staying in the tower any further after the beginning of lunch, but he was thrilled she had decided to come live with him, if only for the summer.

"That sounds perfect,' Tony responded with a huge grin. He had been disappointed when Pepper had texted him on the ride over, letting him know that there was an issue with the company and that she wouldn't be able to make it but at least he'd get to introduce her to Clover tonight.

"If your going to be staying at the tower,' Happy said,' we're going to have to get you an ID badge. Now tonight I can meet you down stairs and help you bring your things up but we're going to need to get you one soon."

"Okay, but I'm probably really not going to be using the door that much,' Clover said with a small laugh. Happy furrowed his eye brows, clearly confused.

"Well I can teleport so…" Clover let the silence hang in the air for a minute before Happy burst out laughing.

"You really had me going there for a second." Happy shook his head as he walked towards the car still laughing a little. Clover opened her mouth to call after him but Tony put his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head no.

"He'll figure it out eventually,' he said.

"Well,' Storm began,' we should probably get going." She nodded towards the car.

"I'll see you in a few hours,' Clover said with a little wave and a smile as she walked away.

"Wait,' Tony called out to them as they turned around. "If you can teleport, why drive here?"

"Well,' Clover said looking around a little,' most of us aren't super vocal about our abilities, so I wouldn't just teleport into a diner. Also the teleporting, or jumping, Blipping, blinking, whatever you want to call it, I prefer jumping, it usually freaks people out a little bit, so I try to not really use it around other people. Not to mention when I jump with other people with me it usually makes them feel a little sick."

"Oh, Okay,' Tony nodded. "I'll see you in a few hours." With that they walked back to their separate cars, and left.

 **Authors Note:** Thank you to the guest who alerted me to the error in chapters 2 and 4! I have taken them down, corrected them and reposted :) As always please review, I appreciate any com


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note:

Hey Guys, sorry it's been a while since I've updated, I've just had a bit of writer's block but luckily it has cleared and I'm actually already two scenes into the next chapter so I'll update again soon, I promise! As always please R&R, any feedback is appreciated!

Everybody usually just rummaged through the kitchen and made themselves something for dinner, but since it was Clovers last night for the summer a few of her friends were having dinner together. Remy had volunteered to cook Jambalaya, and Hank, Storm, Rogue, Kitty, Bobby, and Piotr all ate with them. Clover was knew Bobby had just come to hang out, and for the free home cooked meal obviously, and she was pretty sure Piotr had just come because he'd developed a little crush on Kitty. Never the less she hadn't called either one of them out on crashing her friends only dinner. Bobby was a good enough guy, Clover had always appreciated his ability to remain light hearted on the crappiest days, and she didn't mind having the happy go lucky guy around. As for Piotr, she just liked watching him make heart eyes across the table at Kitty. As they finished up dinner they continued to sit around the table and talk, everyone enjoying the peaceful night in. When Storm had pointed out that it was already seven thirty Clover rushed back to her room finishing packing before meeting up with everyone in the foyer.

"Have a good summer Clove, and don't forget to call and check in,' Storm said the latter part more as a command than a friendly request.

"Yes ma'am,' Clover said giving her a salute and a smile. Kitty came up to her next giving her a quick hug.

"I'll see you next weekend and you can fill me in on everything Avengers, okay,' Kitty asked.

"Yeah, we'll see,' Clover said. She hesitated for a moment before she jumped over to the Tower, nervous. She turned back around. "Bye,' she gave everyone a small smile and wave, then she went. She was in front of Stark Tower; she could have jumped herself inside but she needed a minute before she went upstairs. It was all just so intimidating and surreal. She didn't know what was more unbelievable, that she was about to go upstairs to meet the avengers, or that she was about to go upstairs to live with her father for the next two months. She walked through the doors and made her way over to the security desk.

"Hey, is Happy around,' she asked the guard sitting behind it.

"And who may I tell him is asking?" He didn't even bother to look up from the magazine he was flipping through, rude.

"I'm Clover Mansfeld, he should be expecting for me to drop by." The man shot up out of his chair, tossing the magazine down and scrambling over to her causing Clover to jump back from him a little in surprise.

"Ms. Mansfeld, yes. They told me you would be coming by. Right this way. Do you need any help with your bags?" She shook her head and they walked over to the elevator as the guard spoke faster than should be humanly possible. "This is your temporary pass for the building, once you get settled in we can make you a permanent one. Can I ask you something?" He looked so excited and curious she couldn't hold back a small laugh.

"Um… yeah I guess."

"What is it you're doing here? I mean you have level six clearance, I only have level two and I'm a guard, and you're going to be staying here? The only people that get to do that are like serious scientists working on projects like Dr. Cho and Dr. Foster or the Avengers. I know you're not an Avenger, unless you're a new one in which case cool, and you look a little young to be a scientist, so like, what are you doing here?" She simply smiled for a moment while she was trying to think of a good reason for her being here, if Tony hadn't said anything about how they knew each other like hell she was going to.

"It's really nothing cool, I just work with an organization that works with SHIELD. I guess that's probably why the high security clearance, I already know a lot of the trade secrets. As for the scientist comment I will have you know I'm actually studying Biogenetic Engineering." The elevator dinged, then opened and she stepped inside. "Well it was nice meeting you… What was your name again?"

"Rodger but- "

"Well it was nice to meet you Rodger." She pressed the button for the dorm floor and pulled out her phone to play with it as the doors closed. It may not have been her best work at evading a question, but it had been good enough. When the doors opened and she stepped out she wasn't sure what to expect, but she certainly hadn't expected a giant blonde god to be standing right outside the doors.

"Greetings Daughter of Stark,' he shouted before pulling her into what was probably the biggest bear hug she had ever received. In fact, it was so tight she was having a hard time breathing. While she could have used her powers to just jump out of the hug and to somewhere else in the room Clover didn't like using her powers just for everyday things all the time, it kind of felt like cheating at life, and she especially didn't like to use them in front of someone she was meeting for the first time.

"Thor, I think you're crushing her,' came a woman's voice from beside them. Thor immediately dropped her looking horrified at the thought of having injured her.

"I'm fine, really. The hug was a little tight but I appreciate the enthusiasm big guy, besides if you had actually been hurting me I could have just teleported out of it,' she assured him before turning towards Pepper Potts. "Hey, I'm Clover,' she said sticking her hand out.

"Pepper Potts, but you can just call me Pepper,' she said taking Clovers outstretched hand. "We're all so excited to have you here, obviously,' she said looking over at Thor. "We would have all been here to greet you when you got off the elevator but we weren't sure if you would use the elevator or teleport in. Fury has everyone gathered in the main area of the floor, he said had a few things to go over with them."

"Okay so I'm guessing we probably shouldn't interrupt until Fury's done with them. Could someone maybe show me where to put my stuff,' she asked looking between Pepper and Thor.

"Yes, right this way,' Pepper said as she began to walk down the hallway. Clover followed her but when she turned back Thor had begun walking the opposite way, carrying on with whatever he had been doing before she'd popped out of the elevator. "I don't know if you and Tony got around to discussing it at lunch but we have a room set up for you here on the dorm floor. If you'd like we could start working on a more permanent one for you on our floor, though,' Pepper looked back at her, looking like she was trying to get a read on her expression. "Just somewhere that you could stay whenever you wanted to spend a night or the weekend."

"Um, yeah Tony did mention something about that." Pepper seemed to sense that she really wasn't ready to discuss the topic any further. Clover just wanted to spend some time here first, get to know Tony and Pepper before any remotely permanent arrangements were made.

"Well,' Pepper said stopping in front of a door,' here we are." Clover walked in and was pleasantly surprised. The room was larger than even her staff room at Xavier's had been, and the bed was a queen, also an upgrade from the one she'd had at Xavier's. She set her bags down by the door way and took in the appearance of the room. The walls were decorated with typical guest bedroom art, water color flower paintings and 2 vases that matched the color scheme of the room. The walls were painted a light beige, the bedding was white and grey, and all of the furniture in the room including the bed frame were dark stained wood. Other than the bed the room was furnished with a night stand with a single drawer on each side of the bed, a large wardrobe with drawers under it instead of a closet, a book shelf filled with seemingly random books, and by far her favorite part of the room, it had its own bathroom. She walked over to check it out to see that it was one of those half baths that had the tub and the shower combined, but it was still her own private bathroom, something she had never had before. She walked back out into the room taking it in and promptly ran over to the bed and jumped onto it face first, laughing. She rolled over onto her back, snuggling into the bed for a minute before remembering she wasn't alone and sitting up to look over at Pepper.

"Well,' Pepper said, smiling,' It seems you're happy with the room. Do you see anything that's missing, anything you might need?"

"No, no. It's absolutely perfect. Thank you." Clover said, appreciation clear in her voice. She let the silence hang in the air between them for a moment after that, wanting to ask Pepper questions, but unsure of how to even begin asking any of them.

"What is it?" Clover gave her a surprised look. "Tony does that too, he won't want to say or ask something so instead he'll just sit there in silence and stare. So, whatever it is, you can ask it Clover. What is it?" Clover hesitated a moment before speaking and when she did her tone was quiet.

"How do you feel about all of this? I mean, did you know about me, before all of this?" It was something she had been wondering since Tony had tracked her down. He knew about her, but had he told anyone in his life? Was she someone he had always wanted to meet or had he just looked her up on a whim? Had he wanted to take her in for the summer because he honestly wanted to get to know her, or had he looked her up and discovered all she'd been through and now he was offering to take her in for a while to absolve his own guilt over not being there. Pepper couldn't answer all of these questions, but Clover hoped at least she could answer this one.

"I didn't know about you until Tony started looking for you. As for how I feel about you being here? I'm glad I get the chance to know you. I just hope you're not too much like your father,' she laughed. "I love the man but, my god, he can be a hand full all on his own." Clover laughed.

"Well, I hate to disappoint you but I think handful is probably the first term any of the instructors at X's would use to describe me." Clover said with a smile and a shrug.

"No way you're as bad as Tony."

"Well, to name a few of the memorable incidents off of the top of my head: I set the lab on fire to get out of 'safety day' where Hank just drones on and on about lab safety, most of which is common sense. I broke into our files room which holds everything from student files to privileged information about the X-men which Xavier refuses to put into a computer system, a move that could have gotten me expelled just a week shy of my graduation. Then there was the Houdini incident when I disappeared for a week and didn't tell anyone where I was effectively giving everyone heart attacks."

"Okay, those are pretty bad, but your father once gave our home address back in California to a terrorist, who then proceeded to destroy it."

"Yeah,' Clover gave a small laugh,' I haven't done anything that bad… yet." Pepper gave her a look that told her exactly what she thought about the end of that sentence. "What? I'm a teenager. I'm bound to do a lot more stupid stuff. It's practically my duty." This time it was Pepper that let out a laugh.

"Well,' Pepper said checking the time,' Fury should probably be done with them by now, are you up for meeting everyone?" Clover thought about it, then she shook her head.

"I'm kind of beat, do you think it'd be okay if I just kind of took the night to settle in?" Clover was excited to meet the rest of the Avengers, if the rest of them were half as friendly as Thor she figured it would be fun, but she really did just kind of need the night to adjust to everything before heaping more on. Pepper gave her an understanding smile and a nod.

"Of course. Do you need anything else?"

"No, thanks though Pepper." Pepper nodded again before leaving her again. Clover spent the next half an hour unpacking, starting with all of her stuff for the bathroom. She was already starting to like it here.

When Thor had come back from the kitchen and had announced that he'd meant Clover, Tony had been thrilled, his daughter was finally home and he'd get to introduce her to everyone. When he'd left her the meeting to see Pepper standing there alone he'd been confused, when she'd announced Clover had taken the night to settle in and that she probably wouldn't be coming out of her room until the next morning he'd been disappointed.

"This girl, what is her name,' Wanda asked.

"And what does she look like,' Pietro asked, grin firmly in place.

"No, absolutely not. You will stay far away from my daughter with all of that,' Tony said, gesturing broadly in Pietro's direction. Tony and Pietro may not spend much time together but they did live in the same place, work together, and interact with the same people so Tony did know a few things about the Slovakian. Like the fact that he knew how to work his accent and charming smirk in a way that seemed to turn almost every single woman he came across into putty in his hands.

"Well if the poor girl takes after you in looks I don't think should be a problem." Though Wanda was by no means friends with Tony she didn't hold the hate for him that she once had. The same could not be said for Pietro.

"What is the girls name,' Wanda spoke louder this time while giving a sideways look that told him it'd be wise to shut up.

"Clover, she said that you guys had met before, actually." Tony responded. "Something about planning on showing you around the city."

"Clover!?" Pietro's eyes had gone wider than Tony thought possible and his mouth had literally fallen open.

"So Clover will be living here,' Wanda asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, she will,' Tony responded.

"This is great,' Wanda exclaimed walking away from the group and down the hall back towards her room. Pietro turned, still looking stunned and a little confused, and followed her. The rest of the Avengers headed off toward the kitchen while Tony stayed back to talk to Pepper.

"So…. You met Clover."

"I did,' Pepper agreed. "She seems great Tony. I mean she's probably going to be a little trouble once she really settles in but she's a Stark so I think I'd be more surprised if she didn't."

"Did you bring up the room thing,' Tony asked excitedly.

"I did and she avoided the subject. I think she just wants to see where she fits in here before any arrangements are made."

"Great,' Tony said shaking his head. "So she doesn't want to meet everyone and she doesn't want to have a room that's actually her own here,' he sighed. "Are we sure she even wants to be here Pep?" He shook his head. The last thing he ever wanted to do in his life was be a bad father, to completely screw up a kid like his own father had. All those years ago the booze soaked idiot he'd been had somehow gotten the genius idea that he'd be less likely to disappoint her if he wasn't around at all. The man he'd become could of course see that all he'd done was abandon her and disappoint her more than he ever could have had he actually been around. After he'd found her and discovered she actually did want to know him he thought maybe he'd get a second chance, but he could feel his hopes dwindling more by the second.

"Tony, she wouldn't have come if she didn't want to. You have to remember this is all such a shock for her. A few days ago she didn't even know that you were her father and now she's here living with you and meeting the team and she had to leave all of her friends that she's used to seeing every day to be here, it's a big adjustment. She's going to need sometime but I think she's going to be happy here Tony." He gave Pepper a small smile and pulled her into a hug. Her speech hadn't completely quelled his fears but it did make him feel better. Pepper always knew the right thing to say.

After she finished putting away all of her things she checked the time, 11:35, a little early for a midnight snack but close enough. She wondered around the floor finding her way back to the main room by the elevator, figuring the kitchen shouldn't be too far away from that. While she was navigating her way to the kitchen Wanda texted her.

11:42pm- **So you're going to be living here now!?**

11:42pm- _Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't text you sooner but everything's been hectic with all the moving stuff, we're still on for Monday right?_

11:43pm- **Of course! What are you doing tomorrow?**

11:44pm- _Nothing planned yet, why? Wanna have breakfast?_

11:44pm- **Definetly, has anyone given you the grand tour yet?**

11:45pm- _Nope, which is probably why I'm currently lost trying to find the kitchen. At this point I'm strongly considering just starving in my room. Meet up in the kitchen around 8 for breakfast?_

11:45pm- **Sounds good! Have you tried having J.A.R.V.I.S help you find your way to the kitchen?**

Clover shook her head, amazed that she could forget about the A.I. when she ran into Dr. Banner, literally. Clearly she was paying too much attention to her conversation with Wanda and too little attention to anything else. To make matters worse Dr. Banner had apparently been carrying a file and the papers that had been inside of it were fluttering down around them.

"Shit shit shit, I'm so sorry. I was texting Wand and looking for the kitchen and- "

"It's okay, it's alright. You're Clover right?" She nodded. "I'm Bruce." He stuck his hand out for her to shake as they both pulled themselves up off of the floor and she took it enthusiastically.

"I know who you are, I'm actually kind of a fan of your work,' She said.

"My work?" Bruce sighed, figuring Tony had put her up to this. "As a giant green rage monster?" Clover let out a laugh.

"I was thinking more along the lines of your published papers but your work as a giant green rage monster's okay too,' she said with a shrug.

"You've read my papers,' he asked skeptically.

"Well not all of your papers, let's not go overboard, but yeah I've read a few of them. I have to say your paper on how hereditary mutations are further affected by acquired mutations and environmental factors was very interesting, especially the results you got in some of your findings about the specific effects on changes in DNA sequencing that can happen." Bruce gave a small laugh and she could swear he was blushing a little.

"How did you come to be interested in the field of biogenetic research?"

"I know a geneticist actually, he's the one who got me interested in studying biogenetics."

"Well would you like a tour of the lab sometime?"

"What are you doing right now?" She was eager to see what he was working on now, the sooner she could get into the lab here the better. She would never admit it to Hank but one of the things she was going to miss the most would be hanging out with him in the lab. The smell of chemical cleaner and the quiet whirling of the lab's glassware washer had come to feel as much like home to her as her room had and while she knew it wouldn't be exactly the same, it would still ease the ache a little.

"I was going back to the lab actually, but weren't you headed to the kitchen,' Bruce asked.

"My midnight snack can wait." And off to the lab they went.


End file.
